Chapter 74

Lonely Eden

Ethan barely managed to land squarely on a rather wet and soft surface. He still felt pain radiating outwards from his shoulder and pulsating throughout his entire body, though it didn't feel as though it would last long as his body had already begun to heal. He took a moment to collect himself before standing up and looking around, confirming this indeed was the Lonely Eden from his memories.

Delilah was still clutching tightly at his chest, whimpering and shaking, likely terrified due to the loud bangs of the sniper rifle, while Ronald and Elijah were just beginning to stand up a few feet from him, also looking around, mapping out what they were seeing. The world around them was rather strange; thick grey fog rolled about up to their knees, making it impossible to see the surface itself, while wide yet naked trees arose from the fog, most of which were at least 15 feet tall.

It was rather dark, with the sole source of illumination being the faint moonlight that barely managed to appear through the thick canopy of the ashen clouds above them. It was just as Ethan had remembered it: lonely, ghastly, and making it feel as though they'd entered a horror movie. The entire thing, however, was simply an illusion. The entire crux of beating this Tunnel was the ability to see past the illusion or, at the very least, ignore it and get through it via brute force alone. What likely happened to most of the people who entered before them was that they simply got lost in the fog and in the forest, eventually succumbing to either the elements or the simple act of starvation.

The particulars of closing the Tunnel itself were actually rather simple: one simply had to reach the Heart of Eden as it was called, which was located precisely at the centre of the entire tunnel, which was also where the scroll responsible for the illusions themselves was located. The reason Ethan was confident that this Tunnel would have likely been cleared first among all four was that after a month, if the tunnel hadn't been cleared yet, the illusion would weaken. This meant that the first people to enter would find it impossible to actually find the Heart but those who entered after a month actually did have a chance to simply stumble upon it through sheer luck,

Ethan himself did not have the ability to dispel the illusion but he knew precisely where to go simply because he was really good at reading changes in mana. While it was minute and impossible for the other Awakened to actually notice the changes no matter how sensitive they were to Mana, there was a clear distinction of distribution whereupon the density of Mana was at its highest at the centre of the tunnel. This meant that Ethan, Delilah, Elijah, and Ronald simply had to walk in a direct path toward the centre.

The contents of the tunnel were confirmed through a set of notifications that's strong around them right after.

[Welcome to the Lonely Eden, the land adrift in the void of nothing. The Lonely Eden was once upon a time home to legendary and mythical creatures as well as some of the most exotic fruits and flowers. However, a thousand years ago, its brilliance was corrupted by the sheen of darkness. Now, it rests as a harrowing reminder that there is nothing eternal and sacred in the cosmos.]

[Very little is known of the current state of the Lonely Eden; locate the Heart of Eden to discover more information and clues on how to clear the Tunnel.]

[Conditions for Clearing: Unknown]

[Rewards: , , ???]

[Good luck, Travellers]

Luckily, nothing seemed to have changed from the past. Ethan fully expected there to be yet another wrench in the continuity, as that seemed to have been the standard for the world ever since he returned. As both he and Ronald had to heal first from the bullet wounds, the group decided to set up a temporary camp using tents from their inventory. They started a very small fire just for the visibility as electricity never worked inside the Tunnels, and sat around the table whilst discussing the immediate plans.

“So,” Ethan said. “We’re gonna dig out an underground hole, again, where Deliah can focus on building a portal. We’re not going to move much further out until she’s done.”

“What if others come into the Tunnel in the meantime?” Ronald asked. “We should move away a bit.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“We will,” Ethan shrugged. “But don’t worry too much about it. They’ll never be able to find either us or where they’re supposed to go.”

“... Mana is really thin here,” Elijah said.

“Yup. You should look at your debuffs.”

“Debuffs? Oh. Wait, Mana Regeneration is lowered by 99%?!” Elijah exclaimed in horror.

“Yeah,” Ethan nodded. “As such, don’t use it unless I tell you to.”

“... wait, doesn’t that make our Classes kind of broken?” Ronald mused aloud.

“We’re not the only Classes who have a unique resource,” Ethan said. “But yeah, kind of. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“So, we’ll clear the Tunnel as long as we get to the Heart?” Ronald quizzed, moving on.

“As far as I know, yeah,” Ethan said. “But don’t blindly believe that.”

“Why?”

“Because I haven’t experienced it with my own eyes but heard it from someone else,” Ethan said. “Eighteen people went into the Tunnel but only nine came out. They said that the nine got lost in the fog, but there was a lot of suspicion that they sacrificed the half to clear it.”

“... wait–isn’t that dangerous?!” Ronald asked.

“It just meant that the alternative way of closing the Tunnel was too difficult for them,” Ethan shrugged. “So, while it really just might be that half of them simply got lost and the group cleared the Tunnel as soon as they reached the Heart, it is entirely possible that they either had to fight a boss they couldn’t defeat, or do something else extremely difficult, or simply sacrifice half of the people in the group. Or, in the worst case scenario, they were pitted against each other in duels where the victor lived and the loser died.”

“That… happens?” Delilah exclaimed in shock.

“Hm?” Ethan glanced at her, smiling faintly. “Whenever it does, it’s always just an alternative way of doing things. Meant for cowards and thieves. And we ain’t no cowards and thieves, are we?”

“N-no, no we’re not!” the girl exclaimed as the three men chuckled.

“Alright. You rest for a little while,” he said, getting up. “While we dig out a chamber.”

The plan was similar to how they did it in the Savanna with the difference of needing a much larger chamber at the bottom. There were some key differences, however, in how they approached it. The ground was wet, though not muddy, which suggested that it rained at least occasionally. Furthermore, there were a lot of trees around them, most of which were fairly large. While the roots of the smaller trees could offer support for an underground structure, the roots of the larger ones would simply be a hindrance.

Furthermore, as Delilah would be effectively living there, they'd need to waterproof the tunnel by using an awning made of branches, as well as create temporary ventilation, just as they did with the chamber back on Earth. The entire structure also required more supportive vertical and horizontal beams than the chamber they dug out in Savanna, but they should have enough. And, in case they lacked materials, there was an abundance of thick logs around them.

As Elijah couldn’t use magic due to Mana concerns, it was mostly up to Ronald and Ethan to dig. After about an hour of searching, they found a somewhat suitable location. The trees around them were the thinnest and shortest they’d seen, there was about thirty square feet of clearance–though that was likely just on the surface as the roots ran deep–and there were some thinner branches that they could use to build an awning.

The two started digging out at an angle again, saving the excavated soil to compress within the chamber itself and use it as flooring. Soon enough, they encountered some roots that they had to cut through, but, luckily, they were more of a support for the tunnel's structure rather than a hindrance.

They used vertical and horizontal beams to maintain the structure of the tunnel, digging out about eight feet at a forty-five-degree angle, which was when they started digging out the chamber itself. They did it in chunks, stabilising them through the usage of beams, while Elijah and Delilah helped by installing a very basic and rudimentary primary ventilation system: stacking tunnel toys for cats together through the tunnel. It wouldn't be enough to feed such a massive chamber with oxygen, but in conjunction with the planned vertical ventilation hole, it should be enough, especially seeing as it would mostly be just Delilah in there.

It took around twelve hours of non-stop work to finish it. Naturally, using magic was what allowed them to excavate so much soil so quickly, some of which they used to construct basic flooring. They hung an oil lamp to create light, pierced through from the surface into the chamber to create vertical airflow while praying it wouldn’t rain heavily, and were wholly set.

“Man, if I ever do get to retire,” Ronald said, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I might just start building bunkers for those post-apocalypse nutcases.”

“Yeah. We can make our own company,” Ethan played along. “And write a book about it. Me and my vampire boss created a construction company in a fantasy world and angels came down to massage us?! Something like that, no?”

"... wow. You say a lot of cringe shit," Ronald said. "But that has to be the worst."

“C’mon man. At least I’m trying to connect to the youth.”

“Stop trying. We get it.”

“Haah, to be treated so poorly by the children. What has the world come to?”

“Yeah, yeah. So, what now? We just wait for the kid to finish the portal?”

“Yup,” Ethan nodded. “The Heart isn’t that far away, actually. About five minutes? So, there’s no need to probe. If anything, maybe we should seek out other Awakened.”

“Huh? Why? As insurance in case we do need to off half our party?”

“... Jesus, your mind’s growing darker and darker,” Ethan sighed. “Of course not.”

“Then why?” Ronald asked as they left the chamber.

“You never know if we might run into someone useful,” Ethan said. “That night I met you, if I had just simply ‘offed’ you all, you wouldn’t be here today to raise my blood pressure.”

“... can anything even raise it at this point?”

“Well, it just got raised,” Ethan said, his eyes veering to the left.

“Why?” Ronald followed his gaze, though saw nothing but thick fog and trees.

“Because some pissant is watching us.”

“H-huh?”

“It’s time for a hunt.”